Chandigarh, Feb 25 (PTI) Senior Shiromani Akali Dal leader N K Sharma on Wednesday slammed Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, alleging that the Aam Aadmi Party government has failed to improve school education in Punjab.
Sharma, who is also the president of the SAD Trade Wing, said the chief minister should specify what his government has done for school education apart from repainting schools and changing their names.
He claimed that the education sector has deteriorated under the AAP government.
Refuting Mann’s statement that the previous SAD government had neglected school education, Sharma said that during the SAD tenure, there were 27 students per teacher, which has now increased to 47 students per teacher.
He alleged that no new schools have been opened under the present government and that the state has witnessed a dropout of around 80,000 students.
He claimed that 2,431 schools are functioning with only one teacher and that 20 per cent of schools have fewer than 30 students. Around 50 per cent of schools at the block level also do not have principals.
Sharma also alleged that 120 schools have been closed during the AAP government’s tenure and that 44 per cent of senior secondary schools are functioning without principals. During the SAD government, he said, Punjab’s national ranking in school education improved from 14th to third position.
The previous government had recruited 80,000 teachers, set up meritorious schools, opened 4,467 new schools and worked to reduce dropout rates, he added.
Sharma also said that armed forces preparatory centres, including Maharaja Ranjit Singh and Mai Bhago centres, helped students secure positions as officers in the armed forces.
The SAD government introduced an SC scholarship scheme and distributed 4.82 lakh cycles to girl students.
The previous government established 13 new universities, an IIT, an IIM, a nanotechnology institute, the National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute and 297 skill centres, he added. PTI VSD HIG HIG
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